Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Merwins Does The Right Thing, Fixes "Butt Fence" Situation...

Photo By Todd Heintz, posted to Facebook album

Tonight I plan to buy booze at Merwins Liquor and have a "buttfence bonfire" of celebration, because Merwins has done the right thing. They have replaced the notorious "butt fence" or "butt wall" with an attractive and secure feature which does not yet have a clever name, but give it time, give it time. No doubt the expense to Merwins was considerable, but this represents a great improvement to the neighborhood and addresses a problem which has dragged down revitalization for years.

The photo above was taken by Todd Heintz, added to his Facebook album called "Mobile Uploads," and forwarded by a link from a reader...and loyal PayPal contributor.

It should be pointed out there are already reports of "Butt Fencians" congregating near Walgreens on West Broadway, some bringing their own buckets for sitting. However, the march of massive revitalization is inevitable. If a butt fence emerges elsewhere, it's just more material to blog about, another victory to achieve. The good people are winning in NoMi, and this neighborhood is getting better every day.